The handle of a sports equipment, in most cases, is designed to provide a firm grip by the hand or hands to hold the equipment without slipping and to apply force to manipulate the equipment for desired performance. In some cases, such as the tennis racket, we demand an immediate and forceful response as soon as the hand force is applied. A pin-point accuracy on where the ball will be going is desirable but is not really expected. In such cases, a rigid connection between the handle and the rest of the equipment is usually desirable. The rigid connection of the handle to the rest of the equipment assures a quick response whenever the hand force is applied. However, for some sports equipments, such as putters of golf club, an immediate and forceful response is as not as important to the performance of the equipment as a controlled and a measured response which follows the application of the hand force. For the putter, the distance expected of the ball is not large, but the ball is expected to land as close to the desired spot as possible. Experience tells the golfer how he is to hold the putter and how much force he is to deliver through the handle of the club in order to land the ball at the desired spot. However, the force applied to the handle by a human hand, especially with two hands together, is not an exact science. Nurves and muscles of a human body are subjected to many physical-fluencing factors not controlled by the player. That is why a golfer, even pros, will always have "good" days and "bad" days. The invention is to improve the equipment so that the peformance of the equipment will rely less on human factors.
We shall discuss the invention through its application to a golf club. But it is understood that it applies to other sports equipment as well if applicable.
The invention recognizes the fact that it is very difficult to maintain consistency each time when a human hand holds the handle of a golf club, its five fingers grip the handle tightly and each finger exerts its force. The combined force from that hand is the sum of the forces from each individual fingers. Each finger may have a slightly different location on the handle than the previous play and each finger may exert a slightly different magnitude of force than the previous play. Therefore, the resultant force and moment applied to the handle from both hands may be slightly different from play to play. A good player achieves a better consistency than a less experienced player. The problem here is that all the ten fingers are allowed to handle the club individually. Suppose all the five fingers of each hand and for that matter, all of the two hands, are not to grip the rigid shaft directly. Suppose the two hands are covering the shaft through an outer sleeve which can hold its shape without deformation under the gripping force, and the sleeve contacts the handle portion of the club shaft through an elastic media, such as rubber. In this way, an individual finger can not directly drive the club shaft. The combined force from all the ten fingers, drives the club shaft. The response is now decided by a relative turning movement between the rigid sleeve and the shaft. One misplaced finger, or an "abnormally" large grip force by a finger, does not change things if the combined moment, exerted by the both hands, remains the same. This is the essence of the invention.